Surefoot 72: Blue Sunshine

The sweat was pouring from Val's face, and he was shaking. "N-N-No... You... You can't know..."

"I know, Valentin, because I'm your friend, and I listen to you. Even when you're not saying anything. I see the man behind the anger, behind the fear." He reached up, carefully grasping the dynospanner, drawing it from the human's grip and setting it aside. "Now, pay attention to my voice. Whatever is influencing you now can be controlled by yourself, with my help. And you can control your heart. You can calm down."

He took Val's hands in his own. "Listen to my voice. Slow your breathing. You are safe. You are among friends."

Val fought to listen over the din of the attack, the screams of the injured and dying. He should have fled, found a way to hide deeper, to get a weapon, to run run RUN

But he stayed where he was instead, and listened to the sound of the person that seemed to know him. "G-G-Gyver-"

"Yes, Valentin, that's me. You are on the Surefoot, with your friends. You are safe. Just listen to the sound of my voice. Listen."

Val listened. Tears streaming down his face. "I'm- I'm scared."

Gyver held him now. "I know. But that's okay. Your friends will take care of you..."

*

"Zir?"

Hrelle had emerged into the corridor to find the young Orion female crouching over something only she saw, her olive skin flushed and sweat-beaded... and a phaser in her hand.

He paused halfway out of the hatch, repeating more gently, "Zir?"

She looked up at him, eyes wide, agitated. "Captain? Stay back, out of sight! I'll protect you!"

"She's delusional," Fuzzybutt declared in his ear. "Looks like it's just you and me."

"Shush." To Zir he replied, "Who are you protecting me from, Ensign?"

Her gaze shot down the corridor. "The Cardassians! They boarded again! They're taking over the ship!"

Hrelle continued to climb out and towards her. "Give me the phaser, Ensign."

Zir's attention focused on him again, looking angry and anxious. "No, Sir! I have to protect you! Protect the ship!"

He held out his paw. "Ensign Dassene, I'm ordering you to hand over your weapon. You've never refused an order from me. I know I can count on you, always."

She looked to him, unsure, hesitant.... but then complied. "Yes, Sir."

"Now stun her," Fuzzybutt suggested.

Hrelle ignored him, locking the phaser and drawing closer. "Ensign... Zir... you are under the influence of a virus. It's making you see and feel things you wouldn't normally do."

She shook her head. "N-No- That's not possible, Sir! I'm- I'm-"

"Zir," he interrupted gently. "Do you remember when you were a prisoner of the Orion shipmaster Hazaak Sur? When he drugged you, to make you feel better about the situation you were in? You didn't really feel that way, what he gave you made you feel that way. This is what's happening now. The Cardassians have not come back-"

She shook her head more, and he could see the shame that came with that memory, and it broke his heart to have to invoke that now, for whatever reason. "N-NO! They're- They're here!"

"No, Zir, they're not. I promise you. There is a genetically-engineered virus released into the ship's air supply, making you and everyone else see hallucinations."

"Not us, though," Fuzzybutt noted.

Hrelle twitched his shoulder to make the imp fall off, focusing on his Ensign. "And I've never lied to you, have I?"

She swallowed, seemingly finding some confidence in that assurance. "No, Sir. You haven't."

He smiled. "Thank you for trusting me, Zir. Now, I have a mission for you: crawl through the Jefferies Tubes up to the Counselor's Office and take care of Doctor Auger, he's been incapacitated up there-"

"Guess again," came the gruff voice from the hatch.

Hrelle and Zir turned to see Auger crawl unsteadily out, looking exhausted but better than when Hrelle last saw him, Hrelle commenting, "I wasn't expecting you to be mobile, Doctor. You seemed quite out of it."

The human wiped his brow with his broad hand. "I was, Captain. I still am, to be honest." He glanced around. "Unless the floor actually is covered in leaves, and you're really a bear trying to steal a picnic basket?"

"Oh, he's definitely not working on all thrusters," Fuzzybutt muttered in Hrelle's ear.

The Caitian shook his head. "No leaves, Doctor, and no bear... though I wouldn't turn down a picnic basket right now. At least my impromptu first aid helped cool you down and prevent any brain damage. Now, would you please watch over Ensign Dassene while I go deal with the one responsible for this mishigas?"

"No, Captain!" Zir objected. "I won't let you go into danger alone! You're the most important person on the ship!"

He looked at her and frowned. "Where'd you get that idiotic notion?"

"Sir?"

"I'm the least important. You, Doctor Auger, Commander T'Varik, everyone else onboard, you're all more important than me. You're all my Cubs -- even old men like Dr Auger."

"Thanks," Auger muttered.

"And I've sworn to protect all of you, as much as I'll protect the Federation. Because we are the Federation. This mad collection of beings from scores of worlds, banded together by common uniforms, common insignia... and most importantly, common ideals and principles."

Fuzzybutt slow-clapped his speech, until Hrelle reached up and flicked him off of Hrelle's shoulder.

"Stirring words, Captain," Auger commented, "But it's hardly a good example to set to a junior officer, going off on your own without backup. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, we're still in the middle of a session. I need to evaluate you, and what better time than during a real crisis?"

Fuzzybutt hopped back onto Hrelle's shoulder and whispered in his pointed ear, "Shoot him. Zir will back you up on it, she's a good sport."

Hrelle sighed. "Fine. Both of you come along... but stay behind me, for protection."

"Yeah," Fuzzybutt agreed. "You're large enough to protect the entire crew."

Hrelle reached up, grabbed the imp and roughly flung him away.

"Something wrong, Captain?" Auger asked, looking to him. "What are you grasping there?"

Hrelle caught himself. "Straws, Doctor. Let's go."

*

On advice from Shyrik, Kit used the Bridge's medical kit to offer mild sedatives to those infected around him, stopping at T'Varik and examining her again, before tapping his combadge. "Kitirik to Dr Shyrik: the Most Respected First Officer remains in a catatonic state. I was wondering if a suppressant to her Vulcan paracortex lobes might allow her to return to consciousness and assist us."

The Andorian's voice was gruff, even for Shyrik. "No experimentation, Lieutenant, you don't have the equipment or the expertise to deal with her if it goes wrong. You're better off making the infected comfortable and safe."

"Thank you, Respected Doctor. Kitirik out." He looked up. "Mr Kaldron, how is your work progressing on my idea?"

The huge Hroch Ensign was hunched over Engineering, the tips of his massive fingers delicately moving over the command lists, as always the displays compensating for his particular needs. "Comrade Lieutenant, I believe your suspicion that we still retained control over the docking safety subsystems was correct, for what it is worth."

"It may be worth much, Respected Colleague." He programmed the desired sequence on a continuous loop, before announcing, "There: Docking Lights on Maximum. And hopefully Best Friend Giles will remember the Cryptography courses we took together."

He spared one last look at an insensate T'Varik, saying more softly, "I do not know if you can hear me, Most Respected Commander; the tricorder indicates a strong level of mental activity within you. I hope to justify your faith in me and restore the status quo as quickly as possible. Please excuse me."

He rose, T'Varik not responding.

Her mind literally elsewhere.

*

Several decks down, in the sonic shower stall of the VIP Quarters assigned to Heisenberg and Veid, an unconscious C'Rash was being forcibly dragged from the darkness. C'Rash... you must revive...

The Caitian moaned, half-aware, imagining hearing her partner's voice in the darkness, imagining they were in bed together in the middle of the night-

No, it's an Emergency. The ship has been compromised. I've been disabled.

That alerted C'Rash's awareness. Drugged! Heisenberg drugged me! Where are you?

On the Bridge, unable to return to a conscious state without being overwhelmed by the thoughts around me. But our psychic Bond remains active. We are all in danger, you must fight the drug you were given. The ship needs you. I need you, Beloved.

C'Rash grunted inwardly, forcing her eyes open, her whole body feeling suffused in syrup, sapped of all energy.

And yet she managed to raise an arm, extend the fingers on her paw and display her claws. She could do this. She could do this!

Yes, Beloved. Please, hurry, I haven't much remaining... strength to... to keep this...

Oh, I'll hurry, C'Rash promised as she lost the link with his wife, forcing herself to rise to all fours, teeth fully bared, feeling the waves of the sonic shower unit above, as if it was trying to lull her into remaining in a somnolent state. And when I'm through with Doctor Heisenberg, there won't be enough drugs in his bag of tricks to make himself feel better.

*

On the Longpaw, attached to the Starboard Docking Port of the Aquarius, Giles returned to the runabout in response to an automated alert... thankful for the break in seeing the carnage onboard the Oberth-class vessel; even after all he had seen in battle, it was still disturbing. And is that a bad thing, Giles? Worry when you become inured to it all.

His exosuit creaked as he took the pilot's seat again, his gloved hands moving over the controls as he looked out through the cockpit window... seeing the flashing lights from the direction of the Surefoot, like a pulsar.

He frowned, opening a channel. "Longpaw to Surefoot: what's up with the lights?"

When there was no response, he tried several more times, his curiosity quickly escalating to concern, as he watched the flashes, seemingly random... until he saw a repeating pattern.

A quick command to the computer for analysis confirmed his suspicions.

Then he opened another channel. "Runabout Longpaw to Ajax. This is Lieutenant Giles Arrington. Come in, please."

A welcome familiar female voice responded. "Giles? What's wrong?"

Despite the situation, Giles couldn't help smiling a little at the sound of Sasha's voice, even as he piggybacked a data package of the recorded logs for the last day onto the audio transmission. "I think we have a situation here. We need you."

Then on his Tactical panel, there was an alert on his long-range sensors to an unidentified vessel, approaching fast.

*

"Hrelle to Kitirik: are we ready to Purge?"

The reptoid emerged from within the Bridge Engineering station, surrounded by internal components. "Lieutenant Kitirik here, Respected Sir. I might be ready to commence the action now, though I must warn you it will have the effect of shutting down all ship systems for approximately ten minutes... including Life Support and the Quarantine protocols."

"We can manage for several hours with Life Support down if necessary... and the Quarantine is pointless anyway: the infections are everywhere, they'll burn out shortly, and we need to get uninfected personnel to key positions before company arrives.

But I want you to deliver orders to the crew, immediately before the Purge, to report to their stations, arm themselves and see to the infected; I don't want our guests to take any countermeasures."

"Should we not direct available personnel to apprehend them?"

"No need, Kit, I'm on Deck 3, making my way to the VIP Quarters."

Kit frowned. "How did you manage to breach-" Then he shook his head, moving to the Ops station. "Never mind, Most Respected, and Tenacious and Talented, Sir. I am readying now."

"Good. I'll need the distraction of the Purge; don't call me, I'll call you. Good luck, Captain Kitirik. Hrelle out."

Kit blinked, glancing at Kaldron. "I hope I can be worthy of his trust."

His companion in crisis looked back. "Comrade, if I may be so bold... I have served under you. You are worthy-" Then his attention returned to the Tactical board. "Our long-range sensors are still functioning. And they are reporting that there is an unidentified vessel approaching at high warp, from the direction of the Tandaran Sector. ETA 12 minutes."

Kit's heart raced. "Then the time for self-doubt has passed..."

*

On Deck 3, Hrelle gripped the phaser confiscated from Zir as he led the way, as Zir and Auger followed behind, the latter asking, "That young Lieutenant sounded nervous as Hell, Captain."

The Caitian tried listening ahead of him. "What's your point, Doctor?"

"My point is that maybe you should have headed straight to the Bridge to take over, and let Security manage this?"

"You should have just shot him, like I said," Fuzzybutt reminded Hrelle.

Hrelle ignored his imp. "Taking command is hardly an option for me at the moment, Doctor; you removed me from Active Duty. And my Chief of Security is missing."

"You mean your niece?"

He stopped and turned in place to catch and hold Auger's eye. "I mean my Chief of Security. What I said before about all of you being under my protection includes her. And if I ask any of you to risk your lives, the least you're owed is the confirmation that I'll lead the way. Shall I give you another heroic speech?"

"Seven Hells, no," Fuzzybutt replied, as Hrelle flicked him off his shoulder once more.

Auger, unaware of the imaginary interaction, smirked. "Another time, maybe. Consider yourelf back on Active Duty, by the way."

Then all looked up as Kit's voice sounded over the shipwide intercom. "Lieutenant Kitirik to Crew: Proximity Alert, General Quarters, Grey Mode Conditions, further orders to follow."

Then the lights went out, replaced with the Emergency lighting dashes along the tops and bottoms of the corridor walls at regular intervals. Hrelle heard Auger and Zir react, but he shushed them gently, setting his phaser to Stun as he proceeded further, listening ahead.

In the far distance, he could hear crewmembers working the manual controls to their doors to leave from wherever they were, and make their way to their assigned stations, as per Kit's succinct but sufficient orders, addressing the crew without offering too much to the intruders. I owe you a big plate of honeyed locusts, Lieutenant. And if they keep me on my diet of rabbit food, I might join you-

He heard noise from the Quarters ahead, and silently motioned for Zir and Auger to press against the wall. Then he heard familiar cursing, and called out, "Lieutenant! It's me!" When he didn't get a response, he moved to the door's manual controls.

Fuzzy butt leaned in close. "She might be infected. They all are onboard, except you and me. You might have to blow up the ship-"

"Shut up," Hrelle muttered, as the doors slid apart and Hrelle drew closer, barking in Old Caitian, "Niece of mine! Answer me!"

From within, she responded hoarsely, "Come in- I'm alone- need help-"

He stormed in, phaser still raised anyway, until he saw C'Rash leaning weakly against a chair, beside an obviously-dead body on the bed, that of the male Betazoid they rescued. He heard no one else, and set down the phaser to help his niece to straighten up. "Are you okay? What happened? Where's Heisenberg?"

C'Rash was obviously fighting to straighten up. "Drugged... he killed Veid... scent's about ten minutes old... he has my phaser-"

He nodded and looked to Auger and Zir. "Stay here with Lt Shall, keep her moving to work some of the drug out of her system, then take her to Sickbay when the systems come back online." He saw a hand towel near the desk, lifted it up and brought it to his snout, catching Heisenberg's scent.

"No," C'Rash protested. "Give me a moment, I'm coming round-"

"We don't have time. His companions are due, and we're bound, blind, deaf and toothless-"

"Speak for yourself," Fuzzybutt protested, climbing up on top of Hrelle's head to look around.

"-And Heisenberg will have the cure for Blue Sunshine." He raised a paw to the others. "No arguments. Keep an eye and ear peeled in case he returns."

Then he departed, focusing on his tracking his prey... and wondered where Heisenberg might have gone to await the Syndicate vessel.

*

Captain Weynik appeared on the miniature screen on the companel of the Longpaw, black eyestalks tilted down. "You're certain of this, Lieutenant?"

Giles glanced over at the adjacent status displays. "Yes, Sir: normal subspace channels are down with the Surefoot, but someone rigged their Parking Lights to broadcast a message in Starfleet Semaphore Pulse Code: 'Virotic Infection Onboard. Systems Compromised. Purge Imminent.' I've rechecked the message with my onboard computer three times. And now they appear completely powered down, as you'd expect from a Systems Purge."

"The Orion Syndicate are behind this," Sasha opined beside Weynik, pushing the Roylan aside slightly to be better seen in the monitor. "I just read reports about Virotics, and it would explain what happened to the Aquarius. Anything more about the approaching vessel?"

"Still no ID beam, and there's something about their hull configuration preventing detailed long-distance analysis."

"Orion Syndicate Interceptors are sheathed with energy-absorbing materials that disrupt long range sensors." Her face turned beetroot. "Get your weapons online, Giles! Take a position in front of the Surefoot-"

Weynik pushed Sasha back and recaptured the screen. "Sit down, Giraffeski, I'm still in charge here, I've got a note from my father that says so." Then he faced Giles again. "Get your weapons online, and take a position in front of the Surefoot."

Offscreen, Sasha muttered, "Brilliant idea, Sir."

Weynik ignored her. "We're still twenty-two minutes away. When they arrive, see if you can stall them, negotiate with them. Buy some time." He paused and added, "Do anything you can."

Giles nodded soberly, powering up the phasers and microtorpedoes. "I understand, Sir. I'm leaving the rest of the Away Team here on the Aquarius; if anything happens to me, please ensure to their safety."

Sasha shoved herself back into view, pointing an angry finger at him. "Nothing's happening to you, Giles, you hear me? You survive, or I swear I'll follow you to the Afterlife and spend eternity kicking your ass! You got that, Mister?"

Weynik pushed her aside again. "Rein it in, Lieutenant." But more sympathetically, he added to Giles, "But maybe it'd be best to try and stay alive. You know Sasha better than me, she might not be bluffing."

Giles smiled slightly, undocking from the Aquarius and heading to protect the only home he now recognised. "You might be right, Sir. See you soon... hopefully. Longpaw out."

*

Heisenberg didn't expect the lights, and everything else, to go out. He had left the VIP Quarters, moving forward to the Shuttlebay when it happened, and he ducked into an alcove containing a vertical ladder as he heard the sound of doors being manually opened, and uninfected crewmembers leaving wherever they had been trapped to go to their duty stations, or so he expected from the orders that preceded the blackout.